I had the opportunity to serve on the front lines during Covid and learn a deep lesson about cellular level health. As a board-certified emergency physician working in a level one trauma facility in a covid isolation unit during the pandemic, I managed record numbers of people dying from respiratory failure and other complications of the virus. Early on the pattern was clear. Age and co-morbitidies (other disease states such as hypertension, diabetes and immune compromise) effectively opened the door for Covid to wreak havoc in the bodies and CELLS of my patients. For those who survived “early” covid, the overall “hit” to the body seemed profound and almost exaggerated. Today, the emergency department continues to be inundated with what appears to be various levels of long covid impairing the health and energy levels of my patients. But why?
Science is beginning to understand the impact of Covid at the cellular level. This NIH article discusses how Covid can cause lasting damage to cells’ energy production. Essentially, Covid stimulates genes related to cellular level stress and suppresses mitochondrial genes involved in energy production. Very simply, Covid increases stress and decreases the energy available to us at the cellular level. That’s a big hit!
Fortunately, science has also made great strides in learning what lifestyles and nutrients are crucial for maximum cellular and mitochondrial support. If you are suffering from the fall out of covid, let’s work together to decrease your stress and increase your energy at the cellular level.